Gorail

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
352226505
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2007
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2028083230
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Environmental Quality, Protection, and Beautification N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,257,288
Expenses
$2,236,775
Assets
$564,309
Liabilities
$180,772

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • RUSSELL MCGURK (PRESIDENT (1/1/25-6/30/25))
  • MICHAEL GAYNOR (PRESIDENT (7/1/25-12/31/25))

Highest reported compensation

  • RUSSELL MCGURK (PRESIDENT (1/1/25-6/30/25)): $272,499 total reported compensation
  • MICHAEL GAYNOR (PRESIDENT (7/1/25-12/31/25)): $258,559 total reported compensation
  • ELIZABETH CANTWELL (VP OF COMMUNICATIONS): $148,769 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The organization was established to improve the quality of life for all americans and to build a stronger economy by promoting increased use of freight rail transportation as an alternative to continued reliance on an overcrowded highway system.

What it reported doing in 2025

Gorail educates community leaders and the public about the benefits of moving freight by rail and asks them to make clear to members of congress that rail policy decisions made in Washington, d.c. Have real impacts in local communities. Gorail continues to have great success conveying its message about the public benefits of freight rail.in 2025, gorail continued growing its network of local officials and community leaders nationwide, as well as strengthening its grassroots network, deepening engagement with coalition partners on freight rail policy issues, and leveraging these relationships to generate a steady stream of constituent input, local media coverage, and social media engagement with public officials.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 96% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 65
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 19
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 70.8%; rating input score 71
  • Program expense ratio: 71.4%; rating input score 71
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.04 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 87.5%; rating input score 88; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0.9%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.25; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.32; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 52.4%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.6% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.6% per year; rating input score 100; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -1.9% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 70.8% of revenue deployed · 71.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 8 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $272K · 15 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2012 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 15/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 30/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 7/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 1/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 25/100.